BENEFITS OF CYCLING

HEALTH & SOCIETY

Regular cyclists enjoy a fitness level equal to that of a person ten years younger. (Source: National Forum for Coronary Heart Disease Foundation, Sharp)
Cycling at least twenty miles a week reduces the risk of heart disease to less than half that for non-cyclists who take no other exercise. (Source: British Heart Foundation, Morris)
If one third of all short car journeys were made by bike, national heart disease rates would fall by between 5 and 10 percent. (Source: Bikes not Fumes, CTC, 1992).
The Copenhagen Study (2000) concluded that those who did not cycle to work experienced a 39 percent higher mortality rate than those who didn't.

Don't tuck in behind another rider: that reduces energy expenditure by 30 percent. Lance Armstrong burns about 1000 calories an hour in the Tour de France, going about 80 miles a day at an average of 24 mph.

A typical train commuter spends £12 a day (£5 on the train journey, £2 on coffee and snack, and £5 on lunch) and a typical road commuter £14 per day (average 17 miles @ 40p per mile, £2 coffee and snack and £5 lunch) or £30 per day in London if the £8 congestion charge and £8 parking fee are included. Potential savings [of cycling to work, and bypassing the cappucinno bar) could be between £1,152 and £2,880 per year. Source: Cost of car and train travel, Europ Assistance press release, May 2006

An Australian survey found 5 percent of gardeners but only 4 percent of cyclists requiring medical care for an activity related injury in the survey period. (Source: Sydney Morning Herald, 17th January 2003)
Some believe the more people who cycle, the safer it becomes for each cyclists.

Children's waistlines have expanded by two clothing sizes over the past 20 years, says research published in the Archives of Disease in Childhood. The report also says that girls are getting fatter quicker than boys.
The single most important tool to increase the number of people who are physically active is improved conditions for walking and cycling. (Source: A Physically Active Life Through Everyday Transport, ed Dr Adrian Davis, World Health Organisation) http://www.who.int/transport.